Speed-recording instrument.



A. A. AUSTIN. SPEED RECORDING INSTRUMENT- APPLICATION men an. 14. m4.

3 SHEETS-4M l.

1,170,724. Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

T11. COLUMIIA PLANOGIAIH co., \VAIIIINUTON. D. c.

Al Al SPEED RECORDING INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED FEB-14,1914.

F M4 WITNESSES: OINVENTOR iv Au lAusi'z'n A. A. AUSTIN. SPEED RECORDINGINSTRUMENT.

Patented Feb.8,1916.

I ATTORNEY TN cow-nu MIA?" 60-, wummm. D- C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT A. AUSTIN, OF DALLAS, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO M. W.HULSEY AND ONE-FOURTH TO W. O. HULSEY, BOTH OF DALLAS, TEXAS.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

Application filed February 14, 1914. Serial No. 818,724.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Annua'r A. 'AUs'rIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Speed-RecordingInstruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful speed recordinginstrument forvehicles. Its

object broadly stated" is to provide an instrument that will produce anaccurate record of the peed traveled by a vehicle at any time, and whichwill indioate further each time the machine is used and between whathours of the day so asto detect any unauthorized use of the car.

The object of my invention more specifically stated is to provide aninstrument embodying a speed indicator and a clock, the dials of thesame being readily visible from the drivers seat, the clock having theadded function of imparting travel to a record sheet, upon which a penor pencil connectedv with the speed indicator is actuated through amotion proportionate in its magnitude to the speed of the vehicle atanytime.

A further object of the invention isto provide a mechanism which willserve to si multaneously remove said pen or pencil from contact with therecord sheet, and discontinue the transmission ofmotion to' 'the toprovidea device of the'character described that will be'strong, durable,efficient" and simple and comparatively inexpensive 1' to produce, alsoone in which the several parts will not be likely to get out of workingorder.

With the above and other objects in view,

the invention has relation tocertain novel features of construction andoperation, an example of which is described in the followingspecification and illustrated in the accompanving drawings, wherein:

Figure 1. is a front view of'my novel speed recording instrument. thesame in side elevation. "Fig. 3 is a view taken upon the section line'ww of'Fig. 2, showing the instrument with the covers forming its frontand topv ,walls removed and a portion of the side walls cut-away. Fig. 4is a section taken upon the hLe a-7) Fig." 3 is aview of.

of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view, the section-beingtaken upon the line a:-m of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view,the section being taken upon the line z of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a detailsectional view taken upon the line 2-2 of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a viewshowing an end portion of the record sheet. Fig. 9 is a detailperspective view of a sliding door several of w iich are provided to thecasing of my instrument.

Like reference characters are employed in the accompanying drawlng todesignate similar parts in all the figures.

The casing of my speed recording instrument has a base or back 1 formedpreferably of wood, to the opposite edges of which base, there aresecured a pair of metal plates- ..2'constituting the sides of saidcasing the two front corners thereof being preferably rounded. Theifrontedges ofthe plates 2 are each provided w th a slight flange 3, saidflanges extending-toward each other. -To the'extremities of the base 1',there are respectively secured two rectangular-plates 4, to each ofwhich a cover. member 5 is hinged as indicated at 6. Each member 5 whenin its closed position forms an or i .wall 'of the casing and formsone-half of the front wall thereof. The flanges 3-are made to form aseat for the cover mem here 5, by the formation upon said flanges oftongues,'which are engaged by similar tongues formed-upon theedges'ofthe cover members as indicated at 7. The front portions of thetwo members 5 are respectively formed with- 'equal circular aperturesinclosed-by annular flanges 8.

1 Within the casing, and adjacent to each sidewall-thereof there ismounted a frame 9, secured to the base 1 by a number of lugs 10. Afurther rigid connection between the two frames 9 is established by aplurality of bolts 11 two of which have their extremities mounted inlugs 12 respectively formed upon the frames 9 intermediate of their endsand projecting into a channel 13, ex-

is add ted to wind upon the lower, the two reels eing provided withslits 16, within which the extremities of the record sheet -may-beengaged. In its travel the record sheet is held closely adjacent to thebase 1 by a guide plate 17 secured at its lateral edges to the frames 9by a number of" lugs 18,- said plate=bein terminated at its extremitiesrespective y adjacent to the two reels, and havin said extremities"curved slightly from the asel, as indicated at 18. Upoirea'ch extremityof the upper reel, and upon one end of the lower one, a semii0 sphericalknob 19 is formed, the other extremity of the lower reel bcing providedwith a square .knobas indicated at .19. One

of. the knobs 19 of the. upper real is. adapted ;to .be recessed .in abearing 20 lr'igidly secured. to the .adjacentframe 9. -Atithe otherextremity of the up er reel andiattheicorlresponding end of tieloweinreel, there are vprovided bearings 21 recessed toreceive theadjacent-knobs 19; each of said bearings be-' ing rigidly carried upon astud-shaft 22 mounted in .the adjacent frame 9 and. carr ing amilled-head just.- exterior v:to-smd frame. Between said frame-and.eachbearing.21,ithere is mounted acoiled-spri'ng 24.- 25 upon-thecorrelatedstud-shaft22, the bearings 21 thus being normally heldfirmlypressed against-thecorrelated reels to-sup- -.port the adjacentextremities hither-same.

The other sextremity'of athe lower. reel is adapted. to be rotatablysupported by a bearmg 25prov1dedwith a. rectangular socket to .receivethesquare knob lily-said bearing be u'ng carried 'ifast .upon oneextremity :df a3--- stud-shaft 27 whichis mounted in the -c0rre-3-latedframe 9 and carri'esifast uponiits other i extremity a :small .7sheave 28 adjacent! to the exterior surface of said framev9ll In order,that-ithe casing may accommodate;

when desired a larger size of-reel thamthatshown it -is preferred toformin theibase 1 a channel 29iof :arcuate cross section-oppo- -s'ite-to each.of-the reels. When it is-desiredlto remove-a reel from eitherend of the casing, the corresponding:member 5 is 5 thrown open, andthe-stud-shaft 22 and the bearing -21 correlated with-saidii-reel are.

shifted slightly outward afrom the-same, overcoming the correlated.spring 24 and disengagingathe correlated 'knob 19 =from the' bearing-QI.It will now belpossible' to subject the-reel to a slight displace'r'nent-longitudinal of its axissuliicienhto disen-.

- gage the 'ln g 19% from the correlated: be'armg, after which'the reelmay-be withdrawn 55. from-theorising. In order: that re'adyaccess may behad to the milled he'ads 23,-b graspingwvhichhead the correspondingea'rinigs are i-disen gaged from .the correlated "ree s, there are'provided inthe-Side.walls-ofathe GO oasingtwosliding doors 30,;havin'gbeveled j edges adapted toengage in' correspond- "ingly I way, the:front end of each'door BOrbemg provided with a lug 31 flush-with the"front formed slides inv the cdgesfdf-thdoor-J of the casing, by grippingwhich lug the door may be withdrawn from its aperture. To thesheave 2Srotation may be communicatedthrough an endless cord 32 from a sheave 33,mounted in the middle portioh of the casing upon one extren'iity of ashaft 34. The shaft 3-l is parallel to the axes of the two reels and hasits extremities rcspcc .tively=-journalcd-.in the two frames 9. Upon thecenter portion of the shaft 34, there rotatabl mounted .a. sleeve 35,having mounte fast upon its extremities similar wheels 36 having milledrims, and having contactwith-the recordv sheet through slots .37Iformedin; the guide plate 17. The record sheet-.cis-engaged betweenithe rimsof the -,-wheels 36, and the rims of two smaller wheels 38 mounted fastupon a shaft Bil/disposedavithin the-channel 13,'and. having itsextremities journaled in the-lugsll. -Whcn --rotation is communicated to.the shaft 34, the record sheet. is actuated downwardlybetween the pairsof drive whee-ls36 and 38, and-the lowermost reel is .driven throughtheq-sheaves-.28 and 33jand the cord 32at a .sufiicient rateof-gspeed towind. up the record sheet on the lower reel asfast as it is actuateddownwardly-by said drive wheels. It maybe; the caselat times that thedrive Wheels. 36 and 88- .will not permit. the lower ...reelto.rotate.;at,- the speed which. the cord ,32-tends,to communicate tosaid reel, in ,whi'ch eventsaidcord .will slip .upon the.lowermostsheave. Avmechanismserving to communicate rotation toithelshaft-34 from the .works of a clock :34? mounted ,withinthe bottomori-tion ofvthecasing, and-seen in Fig. 1 lithrough .the apertureain thelower .cover .;member 5 willnow be described.

At eachi side of the sleeve 35, there are ttpivoted uponithe shaft341-the-rear extremities of two arms 40, which arms together with twocross bars 41 .and .42-rigidly connecting :thesame constitute'asubstantially horizontel frame .adapted to} undergo a certain slightgangular; displacement about, the shaft The cross-bar 4liconnectsthe,forward extremities of-gthe arms 40, while thebar 42 is spaced ashort distance to the rear ofthe -har.i41.--.The rtwo bars 41 and 42furnish bearingslfora short-shaft 43 perpendicular ::to .theshaftMandadaptedto drive the lat ter-shaft:'.thr0ugh.a pair of beveled gears.w44.-The' shaft '43 is-adapted to be driven through a:train.of;gears 45from thecen- -tralshaftAdof-the clock 34. the rotation--transmitted:being a very gradual one. The clock 34"'is'illustratedonly in Fig. 1. being omitted from. the other views tosimplify the -same.

In the upper portion of the casing, there is mounted an ordinaryspeedometer, which is illustrated-'in'Fig. 1, being-visible through 'theflanged a erture in the:upper member:

5; To simpli 'y the other views, the speedometer is omitted-therefrom.Upon 'the central shaft 49 of the speedometer, there is mounted fast apinion .50 which-intermeshes with a segmental gear 51, fast upon astudshaft 53 journaled in .a bar 54 extended rigidly between the front edgesof the: The members and51 are-#- mounted in the upper rear portion oftheframes 9.

casing of'my instrument, and between the segment 51 and theguideplate'17,: there is mounted an ink .well 55, having at its top a hingedconnection with the" segmentah gear as indicated at 55,-said hingedconnection being such thatthe ink well is permittedby the same toundergo a slight angular displacement to or from the adjacent' guide'plate 17. With the bottom of the ink well 55,-there communicatesthe'upper endof a metal tube 57 I erpendicular'to'the axis of rotationestablished by the shaft 49, about which axis the segment 51 and-the inkwell are adapted to rotate as a unit. The tube 57' extendsdownwardly'parallel and adjacent f to the plate 17, andcarries'at itslower-end a )en 58 bearing upon the record sheet throng "inafterexplained. That wall of the-ink well'55 which is adjacent to'the'segment 51 is'formed with a recess receiving a coiled spring 61, whichis under a certain degree of compression, suflicient to maintain the pen58 normally in firrn contact'wvith the record sheet.

The-cross bar 41 is formed with a centralcircular portion 62'ofincreased'thickness,

in the front face'of which portion, there is formed a cam-shapeddepression 63'. Into this depression, there projects a cam 64' rigidlycarried by a short horizontal shaft 65, transversely journaled at thecenter of across bar 66 rigidly extended between' the forward edges -'ofthe two frames' Q. -'I he forward end of the shaft abuts against ahead67 fast upon the rear end ofa cylinder 68transversely journaledinanarched bracket 69 mounted upon the cross-bar 66 in front of the same.Whexiith'e covers 5-are intheir closed dpositionythefront end portionoffhe' cylin r 68 will project between said covers, semi-circular fian'esbeing formed upon the'adjaceht edges 0 g receivethe projectingportion'ofsa d cylthe two-covers to inder. A slot 71 of rectangularcross section is extended axially-through the cylinderi68 and iscontinued into{ the ad'acent-extremity oftheshaft*'65,' thefunctmnofslaid slot being hereinafter made clear. With 'the an arcuateslot 59 within themcmber 17, the center of curvature of the members66and 69, there are respectively a formed integral a pair of parallel arms72 whichjextend upwardly at an inclination to wardoneof' the sidewalls.The free extremities of the arms 72 form bearings for the forwardextremity of a shaft 73, to which rotation may be communicated fromtheishaft 65 through a train of gears 7&1. mounted between the two arms72. The rear end portion ofthe shaft 73 is provided with an interiorlythreaded .aperture 75, into which rojects the threaded extremity of ascrew G-having a head 77 of square cross section and elongatedparallel-to said screw. IThe-head 7 7-of the. screw 76 is slidablyreceived by a bracket 78. rigidly mounted upon the?adjacent frame 9.:.-At the rear extremity of the head 77, there vis formed iupon the samean arm 79 which engages behind a lug 80:; formed upon the free end ofthe-tube 57. 'When' theQintegral' parts 76, 77 and 79 are displacedtoward the front of the casing, the arts'55, 57 and 58 will'be swungabout the iilge 55 displacingthe pen 58 from contact with the recordsheet. Itwill be observed thatthe recording surfa'ceoff-the recordsheetcarries a plurality oftransversely curved equidistant lines 81,andla plurality of equidistant lines 82 parallelr'to thelongitudinal'edges of thesheet.

'- At the extremities of the sheet, the longitu- "dinally extendinglines are associated with a series of numbers 83 increasing from zeroto'8O in multi les; of '5, and adjacent to .said

- series-of num 'rs there is'printed upon the sheet'the words 5 Milesper hour,

- nAt the left side of the record sheet, tl \re is ass'ociated'with thecurved lines 81 a series of-numbers-'8 1,- which are' increased upwardlyof the sheet in multiples of 5 from zero to sixty, the series beingrenewed when sixtyis reached. Between the several series of numbers 8',there are provided horizontal' lines'iwith which arecorrelated a. seriesof numbers designating" hours and increasing upwardly'of the sheet asfollows: 12 'm., 1' a: m., 2 a; m, 3 a. m.,- etc. In order thatthe,--record upon the sheet may be observed 'atany time, thereis'provided in the left "f handside wall-of the casing'a sliding door 85similar -to the doors 30 previously de- -*scribed as provided-in theleft hand wall of the casing.

Theibperation' of the above described invention will now be fullyexplained.

It-is first to be observed that the ordinary junctions of the clock 34"and the speedomem 48 are not interfered with by the embodiment. of saidinstruments in my invention,

since the 'dialsof the said instruments may be read without difiicultythrough the apertures provided-for'that purpose in the front of thecasing. "In "addition to their ordinary functions, the clock 34 Servesin my invenlUl tiontoaetuate the travel of-the-recordssheet, andthespeedometer=serves :to actuate the transversemotion ofa pen upon" therecord sheet. The operation of the' mechanism actuatingthe recordsheetfrom the clock is believed-to be clear from'the -foregoingdescription. It'is to-be noted-, however 'thatw the rate of speed atwhich the record sheet:-. travels downwardly is'such as todisplace saidsheet through the distance between'two of the lines 81 in:five minutes.Further-- more, it is to be understood thatzthe'oorrect time will'beindicated byxthe position ofithepen relative to the column ofnumbers-B4- on the record sheet andinzfirst .puttingf the instrumentinuse' itris necessary both tax-set the clock correctly andshiftithe-rec'ord sheet manually until the correct time-is indicatedopposite to the. en.

-lVl1en .the -ve 1icle= with which my "invention is-correlated is:stationary,-. .ther-pen 58 will bear upon the li-new82. .oflrthe' record-the pen .upon the record sheet (mtheseries sheet with: which thenumeral O is associated and will produce a 'line coincident withsthesame. hour in the speed. ofthe vehicle, thepen will shift its positionupon the sheet toward the right a dist'ance-equah to that between'r two.of the lines 82. -+Iti1s clear therefore ,thatthe- :travel of therecord-sheet -in conjunction with the motion of the pen -.58-williproduce upon said sheet a'line which will constitute a record oftl1e;speed-traveled bya-vehicle at any time duringits'travel,

When. the ink well is being replenished ora new .record sheet isv beingplacediin the casing "git is necessary .to discontinue the travel of-therecord sheet andi-raismthe.pen 58 outof contact wvitlrsaidisheet.Thisresult may be accomplished by inserting in the slot-71 a key, shapedtorfit said slot, and 'througln said key communicating 1 rotation to theshaft65. The-trainsof gears 'l'ri ill communicate this rotationtoEthe-shaft -73, and since thescrew-TG is-threade'ddntmthe shaft 73 butcannota'otate with said shaft, said-screw. will be subjected to a1ongitudi-. nal displacement which will shift; theapen- 58qclear of therecord sheet. ,Tot-cutioif the communication-of,travel togthe recordsheet the cam G t-will bead'usted'to an-up'wardly pointing position in teirecess 63, ,in whichg.

position, the frame comprising the-.membersr.-

For each increaseoffive miles-per "1:

- ,ing motion-of the same, an

unauthorized use of;the car equipped with -m device is at any time made,the owner mllbecome at once aware of'tlie fact by consulting .his recordsheet and will know .just :when and for-how long the car was used:Without his consent. mSince'the maximum speed of a carand itheiperiodof time for which it-may be-lc ft .standingin the city streets is nowusually regulated by law, the owner of a car equipped :with my device isprotected against"; arrest and fines based upon misstatements-since hecan positively prove by his:recOrd Sheetthat his speed between anycertain hourswas not excessive or=that his caravas not standing undulylong.

Even though some person, before making unauthorized use of. thecar,.were to use a -.keywand:.-st0p the travel of the record sheet,tlusxwould' not prevent discovery of. such an [act by, the owner-sincethe time indicated by .84) rwould be slow asmany minutesas the %trav.el-of the sheet was interrupted.

The invention is ,presented as including 'all such modifications andchanges as properly come-within the scope of.the following claims.

".What -I- claim is:

\1. ,In a speed. recording instrument, the ,combination'with a: recordsheet, of means -for;actuating the same, amarking device bearing :upon;themecord 4 sheet, and a mechanism simultaneously shifting the-markingdevice out. of contact ;with the record; sheet and for. discontinuingthe communication of travel tosaid. sheet.

2. In .a speed recording instrument, .the .-combina tion.with-.a recordsheet, of means for actuating the same, a marking device bearingupontherecord sheet and actuated ,in arcuatetra-vel transverseof said.sheet, two a1in'ed shafts perpendicular to the record; sheeta-ndhavingend portions threaded oneavithin the. other, a mechanism for ,manuallysubjecting one ofsaid shafts to rotation, means for restricting theother -,sha ft against? rotation, 5 but )ermitting slidcl. means.carried by ythe last mentioned shaft engaging the =marking device,for-shifting said device afrom contact-,with the-record sheet. 2.. -3.;I n a.speed recording instrument, .the

40,-,41and 42 willvbe suflicientlyeleuated atjgcombination-,witha.record sheet,.of means its free end to disengage the. teeth of. the up;,vfonactuating. the same, a marking device acpermost gear of thetrain-.45 from the other;- gears of. said train. :In Fig.4 thereis-illus-- tra ted in dash lines .the position which: the. framecomprisedby the members '40, 4=1,and 1 42 assumeswhen it is desiredtodiscontinue the travel of thereeordasheet. sIt is-intended to' keep theclock,34!. constantly,Wound so that the travelofvthe record, sheetwillbe continuous both day and night. Thus if 1 tuated inanarcuatetravel-transverse of the record sheet, aframe )ivoted to swing about an.axis :parallel an transverse with the record sheet, said ,frame having acam (shaped. aperture in its free end, a shaft perendicularto the recordsheet projecting ntoasaid-recess, a cam within said recess serving tosub ect-the pivoted frame to an iangular displacement when sub ected torotation, a mechanism actuated b said shaft name to this specificationin the presence of serving to withdragr the lalalil ing Idevice twosubscribing witnesses.

rom contact with t e recor s eet t e angular displacement of said frameserving to ALBERT AUSTIN 5 cut off communication of travel to the recordWitnesses:

sheet. R. E. C. BRUQKNER,

In testimony whereof I have signed my JACK A. SCHLEY.

Oopie: of this patent may be obtained for Mo cent: each, by addreningthe "Commissioner oi Patents, Wnhlnzton, D. O."

